Internal-combustion engine



Dec. 4. 1,518,463

c. w. vmD EN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed Sept. 10, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 1 Dec. 9, 1924.

c. w. VIRDEN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed Sept. 10, 1923- 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 TTORNE r Dec, 9, 1924. 518,468 I c. w. VIRDEN INTERNAL comsusnow ENGINE Filed Sept. 10, 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 & A TTORNE V Patented Dec. 9, 1924.

CLARENCE W. VIRDEN, 01" KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI.

INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE.

Application filed September 10, 1923. Serial No. 661,969.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CLARENCE W. VIRDEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Kansas City, in the county of Jackson and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Internal- Combustion Engines; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same,

reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to internal combustion engines and the primary object thereof is to provide an internal combustion engine having relatively high eificiency, the invention being capable of being constructed inasingle unit 'or made up of a plurality of units and the construction is such that the cylinders may be air cooled by drawing in air through a jacket and forcing it out of the jacket to cool the cylinder walls.

I have also provided means forrexploding the charge outside the cylinder and admitting it to the cylinder to expand against the pistons. The construction is such that a motor driven in accordance with my invention may be compact, rugged and duraable. My invention is so constructed as to eliminate excessive shock, jarring and vibration. Therefore the engine may be con structed of relatively light parts which cuts down the ultimate weight of the motor and reduces the cost of manufacture. The novel features of my invention will be apparent by reference to the following description in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a view partly in elevation and partly in section of an engine constructed in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view through the cylinder of the engine, the

fly wheel, connecting rods, crank shaft, etc., being shown in elevation.

Fig. 3 is a detailed perspective view of one end of a cylinder, the combustion chamber and the radiating means maintaining the combustion chamber relatively cooled.

Fig. a is a cross sectional view through the cylinder.

' Fig. 5 is a sectional view through the cylinder showing the exhaust valve and the inlet valve.

Referring now to the drawings by numerals of reference 1 designates a cylinder which may be surrounded by a cooling jacket 2 divided into a lower intake chamber 3 and an upper exhaust chamber 4, the chambers 8 and 4 being for the passage of air to cool the cylinder 1. The ends of the cylinder 1 is provided at its opposite ends with heads 5 and 6, there being two at each end, the heads being formed with valve seats 7 and 8 having valves 9 and 10 normally urged upon their seats by the springs 11 and 12, the valves however being oppositely opening valves and being spaced apart by a middle chamber 13, always in communication with the spaces 1& and 15 of the cylinder 1 so that when the pistons 16 and 17 move toward the transverse center or on their in-stroke air will be drawn into the chamber 3 through the port 18 and pass to the spaces 14 and 15 unseating the valves 10 and when the pistons 16 and 17 move on their out stroke, the air in spaces 14 and 15 will be forced into the chamber 4: by unseating the valves 9, the air being discharged through an exhaust port 19 intermediate the ends of the cylinder and through a radiator 20. The radiator 20 is provided with a casing 21 having a discharge opening 22 for dischargeing the air to atmosphere. The radiator 20 carries a combustion chamber 23 which is provided with a valved opening 24: communicating the combustion chamber with the Sub-j acent chamber 25, the sub-jacent chamber having a nozzle 26 surrounded by the port 22 so that when the valve 27 for the ported opening 24 is unseated air is passing through the ported opening 22, the products of combustion will be drawn out of the combustion chamber by an injector action and the combustion chamber will be cooled by the ribs 28 which have a high coefficient or radiation. The valve 27 will be periodically unseated by a lever arm 29 in the form of an elbow lever pivoted at 30 to a suitable support, the arm 31 being actuated by a cam not shown) on a timing gear 32 driven by pinion 33 on a crank shaft 34% carrying the fly wheel 35. The inlet valve to the combustion chamber is designated at 36 and it is adapted to open at the proper time through suitable mechanism and to admit fuel to the combustion chamber through the supply pipe 37. The combustion chamber has a port opening 38 comunicating with the cylinder 1 through the opening 39 in the cylinder (see Fig. 4), so that when the charge is exploded in the combustion chamber 23 by the spark plug 40 it will pass between the two pistons 16 and 17 and enter the space 41 which is real- 1y an expansion chamber and force the pistons. 16 and 17 in opposite directions. The piston 16 has a stem 42 which is pivoted to the link 43. One end of the link 48 is pivoted at 44 to a link 45 anchored to a foot or post 46 the opposite end of the link 43 is connected to a connecting rod 47 having a bearing connection at 48 with the crank 49 on the shaft 34. The opposite end of the crank is connected at 50 to a connecting rod 51 fastened to a link 43 in the same way that the connecting rod 47 is connected. The link 43 is fastened to an anchor post or foot 52 by the link 53. Therefore when the. charge is exploded in a combustion chamber it will pass into the expansion chamber forcing the two pistons 16 and, 17 apart. As they move outward they will rock the links 43 and 48 to turn the crank shaft on which the fly wheel is mounted and as they move outward the pistons 16 and 17 will unseat the valve .9 forcing air through the outlet passageway 4 through the radiator in which the radiating wings 54 are located over the wings 25 to assist in cooling the combustion chamber 23. At the time the air is passing out through the ported opening 22 the valve 27 will unseat through the timing mechanism to permit exhausting of the combustion chamber and the throwing in of a fresh charge of fuel, (it being understood of course that the unseating valve 27 is momentary in accordance with standard engine practice). When the charge under pressure is admitted to the expansion chamber 41 it of course forcesthe pistons apart, the fly wheelcarries the crank shaft over dead center and returnsthe pistons to the positions shown in Fig. 2. On their intake stroke they will draw air through the opening 18 in the chamber 3, past the valves 8 (it'being understood there are valves 8 at each end of the cylinder) and into the chamhers 14 and 15. The incoming fresh air will cool the cylinder 1 and fill the chambers 14 and 15 then when the charge explodes in the combustion chamber and the pressure in the expansion chamber 41 forces the pistons 16 and 17 apart the previously drawn in air will be forced from the chamber Hand 15 unseating the valve 9 and passing through the chamber 4 thence through the radiator 20 around the combustion chamber and out through the ported opening 22. The spent gases will be forced out through the exhaust pipe 26. 4

By utilizing the aligning oppositely opposed pistons the force of the exploded gases is exerted againsttwo movable parts during equal amounts of useful work so that a balance of power to the crank shaft is provided. By this arrangement the force of the explosion is not lost against a stationary part such as to a large extent happens where a single cylinder single piston is employed. By providing the balanced operation the wear on the movingparts is reduced to a minimum thereby increasing the durability of themotor or engine and permitting the engine to be run at relatively high speeds. Another advantage of the construction shown above is the locatipn of the combustion chamber relatively close to the cylinder but in such position as to prevent the burning of lubricating oils in the cylinder and as no oil is introduced into the combustion chamber liability of fouling of the spark plug is practically eliminated. The engine can be made relatively light so that it will particularly lend itself for'mjotor vehicles, railway passenger coach, streetcar propulsion, lightdraft water craft, etc. The engine is efliciently air cooled, the cooling being accomplished by drawing of air from atmosphere and using some of it for the gas mixturethe burnt gases being circulated with the cool air at a very rapid rate through the radiator (about 3000 cubic feet per minute) serving to keep the cylinder and explosion chamber cool, thereby eliminating the danger of over heatingand making unnecessary the use of water jack ets, this being'an important feature in connection with motor vehicle .propulsionibe; cause the water jacket constitutes aflvery appreciable proportion of the weight of the engine. i

It is tobe understood of course'that when the pistons 16 and 17 move on theirinstrokes they will. force the burnt" gases through the exhaust port 39 back'into the combustion chamber 23 and when the valve 27 lifts the snction created by the outgoing air through port 22 will draw out the burnt charge, a slight vacuum being created in combustion chamber to unseat valve '36 anid admit a fresh charge of fuel to the combustion chamber.

The pipe 55 connected tothe cylinder is provided with a valve 56 which maybe cracked to cut down the compression in starting the engine. i I

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: i

1. An internal combustion engine comprising a cylinder, opposed pistonsin the cylinder having movements toward and away from the other to provide an expansion chamber between them,- 'a jacket about the cylinder communicating with atmosphereand with the open ends ofthe cylinder so that on the intake stroke of the pistons air will be drawn into the acket to cool the cylinder and on the out stroke the air will be expelled, a radiator communicating with the jacket chamber and a combus tion chamber within the radiator communicating with the cylinder to permit the combusted charge to discharge against the piston, a crank shaft and connections between the crank shaft and the pistons.

2. An internal combustion engine comprising a cylinder, a reciprocatory piston in the cylinder, an air chamber in the end of the cylinder, an outlet valve in one partition and an inlet valve in the other partition, a guide jacket surrounding the cylinder into two chambers, one chamber communicating with the air chamber in the cylinder through a port controlled by the inlet valve and the other jacket chamber communicating with the cylinder chamber through a port controlled by the outlet valve, the piston being effective to draw air into the cylinder chamber on one stroke and expel it on the opposite stroke, a radiator connnunicating with the second mentioned jacket chamber and a combustion chamber within the radiator communicating with the cylinder to permit the combusted charge to exert pressure against the piston, a crank shaft and connections between the crank shaft and the piston.

3. An internal combustion engine comprising a cylinder having air chambers in its respective ends, reciprocatory opposed pistons in the cylinder, an air cooling jacket about the cylinder, divided into two longi tudinal chambers, valves interposed between the respective chambers formed by the jacket and the chambers at the ends of the cylinder, a radiator having heat radiating ribs within it, a combustion chamber within the radiator and a conduit connecting the combustion chamber with the space between the opposed pistons.

t. An internal combustion engine comprising a cylinder having air chambers in its respective ends, reciprocatory opposed pistons in the cylinder, an air cooling jacket about the cylinder, divided into two longitudinal chambers, valves interposed between the respective chambers formed by the jacket and the chambers at the ends of the cylinder, a radiator having heat radiating ribs within it, a combustion chamber within the radiator and a conduit connecting the combustion chamber with the space between the opposed pistons, the combustion chamber having a valved inlet port and a valved outlet port.

5. An internal combustion engine comprising a cylinder having air chambers in its respective ends, reciprocatory opposed pistons in the cylinder, an air cooling jacket about the cylinder, divided into two longitudinal chambers, valves interposed between the respective chambers formed by the jacket and the chambers at the ends of the cylinder, a radiator having heat radiating ribs within it, a combustion chamber within the radiator and a conduit connecting the combustion chamber with the space between the opposed pistons, the combustion chamber having a valved inlet port and a valved outlet port and timing mechanism for intermittently opening the valved outlet port.

6. An internal combustion engine comprising a cylinder having air chambers in its respective ends, reciprocatory opposed pistons in the cylinder, an air cooling jacketabout the cylinder, divided into two longitudinal chambers, valves interposed between the respectice chambers formed by the jacket and. the chambers at the ends of the cylinder, a radiator having heat radiating ribs within it, a combustion chamber within the radiator and a conduit connecting the combustion chamber with the space between the opposed pistons, the combustion chamber having a valved inlet port and a valved outlet port and timing mechanism for intermittently opening the valved outlet port, the radiator having a discharge port surrounding a discharge port for the combustion chamber.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

CLARENCE WV. VIE-DEN. 

